Cities, towns and counties across America are struggling with a declining road infrastructure that costs more than local governments can afford to maintain and replace with conventional roadway rehabilitation techniques. These communities and counties are focusing more today on the economic value of recycling, with emphasis placed on seeking ways to save money. Asphalt is 100% recyclable and is one of the most abundant recyclables on earth. According to the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Highway Administration, asphalt pavement is not only America's most recycled and reused material, it now is being recycled and reused at increasing annual rates that are more than twice the combined total for recycled paper, glass, plastic, aluminum and other recyclables, with an upward trend that is expected to continue.
Existing roadway materials are rich in asphalt and aggregate-coated asphalt cement and may be re-used in the reconstruction of deteriorated, worn and debilitated paved roadway surfaces. In-place recycling and pavement preservation programs utilizing asphalt recycling machines save tax dollars by permitting the reprocessing of old asphalt material that is already there in place within the pre-existing material. Currently, the cost of virgin hot asphalt mix from the local asphalt plant approximates $80.00 to $100.00 per ton with the price fluctuating with international petroleum prices. The cost of transporting asphalt from the plant to the job site, in addition to other associated costs and overhead drive the ultimate price of plant asphalt even higher. Cold patch asphalt material can cost $200.00 per ton and more; and, repairs completed with cold patch are temporary, at best. Other alternative materials, such as rubber asphalt pellets containing all the constituents of hot asphalt mix, can cost as much as $600.00 per ton. Asphalt pavement recyclers eliminate the need to secure hot mix from the asphalt plant and allow the paver to utilize existing reclaimed broken, chunk or milled asphalt material already at the site of the needed repair to produce recycled hot asphalt mix at minimal cost.
There are other benefits to society of recycling reclaimed pavement which the recycling machine allows; the machine and process conserves natural resources by reducing the amount of virgin materials required for a mixture and the energy required for extracting, processing and transporting these materials. Recycling reclaimed asphalt pavement conserves millions of barrels of asphalt binder. The ability to recycle old asphalt pavement also allows the diversion of this deteriorated and depleted material from public and private landfills where, if not recycled, it would be placed in and would perpetually consume valuable land space, without any benefit to the economy, the environment or our natural resources.
Reclaimed asphalt pavement constitutes a treasure trove of preprocessed asphalt paving material which, even though aged and depleted to some extent, continues to retain the essential components of asphalt mix. The mix may be simply rejuvenated on site by blending in appropriate rejuvenate agents incorporated with the old reclaimed asphalt pavement processed in the recycling machine.
Hence, there is clearly a need for an asphalt recycling system which makes up for the deficiencies described above.